10/29/01

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Kay Weller, associate professor, geography, (319) 273-7343

Gwenne Culpepper, University Marketing and Public Relations, (319) 273-2761

UNI professor and class probe roots of Waterloo's African-American community

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- Kay Weller, associate professor of geography at the University of Northern Iowa, was recently awarded a provost's grant to study the African-American community in Waterloo. The grants, in the amount of $1,200, are made to professors seeking to emphasize experiential learning and community relationships.

Through the project, 16 of Weller's students have identified and begun interviewing African-Americans in the Waterloo area. These interviews will be transcribed and presented on Web sites before the final class day.

"The community focus of the project is important in the preservation of the Waterloo African-American community," explained Weller. "Students will record oral histories that focus on the role of African-Americans in the evolution of Waterloo as a metropolitan area and the push-pull factors of migration that led them from the Mississippi Delta to Waterloo."

Other UNI professors involved in the project are John Baskerville, assistant professor; and Robert Martin, professor, both in the Department of History.

Those interviewed will present their stories during community oral history nights, the first of which will begin at 8 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 5, at Antioch Baptist Church in Waterloo.

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